


as i (father) figured

by robogalaxy



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Headcanon, Insecurity, One Shot, Pokemon Sword & Shield Expansion Pass: The Isle of Armor, hyde is just baby., i tag honey though she only shows up for like 2 seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25474783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robogalaxy/pseuds/robogalaxy
Summary: He's a bright young kid - this conversation was going to come up sooner or later...though Mustard would've preferred itmuchlater than this.
Relationships: Hyde & Mustard (Pokemon)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	as i (father) figured

"Pause your game."

Hyde asked this simple favor of Mustard after walking out of his room, a small Rotom phone in hand as he walked and sat on the couch next to his father. He'd never been too much of an expressive kid, but even then his face seemed eerily blank. He stared ahead at the TV screen, waiting for the pause menu to pop up before he spoke again– thankfully, he didn't have to wait too long. A quick press of a button and the game was suspended, Mustard's attention now held by Hyde only. The kid's legs swung back and forth nervously, his feet bumping against the couch while his hands fidgeted with the phone. A quick look over to Hyde's hands and Mustard recognized that the phone he'd been holding didn't belong to him but rather to his mother - Honey's phone cases have always been a little more typically feminine and it was common knowledge that Hyde hated the feel and look of such fancy, decorative things. _Does Honey know he has this?_ Mustard thought, _Kiddo's awful sneaky when it comes to snagging things from his mum..._

"You're looking a little unhappy, now, aren't you?" Mustard said as a hand attempted to reach out to slightly ruffle Hyde's hair, "Don't like the look of tha—"

"Can we just get to the point?" Hyde asked with a huff. There didn't seem to be a point to this conversation (at least, not yet), so his insistence on continuing their talk was puzzling. 

"Point? What point, son? We haven't talked for even a minu—"

"I know you're not my real dad," Hyde interrupted, his voice devoid of any emotion. He swatted away Mustard's touch without even looking his way. He remained quiet after he admitted he knew, hands trembling as he looked forward at the TV and seemed to focus more intently. Blue eyes were glued to the color display and his words echoed within the confines of the main room, yet not as much as they echoed in the corners of Mustard's mind. As shocking as it was to hear it, it was by no means a lie. How Hyde gained this information, though, baffled Mustard and rendered him speechless as he tried to form a response. He didn't think it would be easy to explain - he _knew_ it wasn't going to be easy - and his hesitation only made Hyde more impatient. 

"What, did you not know either?" Hyde huffed, "You seem just as surprised as I am." Though he always was blunt with his words and never backed down from petty spats with the students of the dojo, Hyde was careful in his words to his parents– much calmer, more serene, playing up his young age. Now, however, he treated his "father" like anyone else who talked to him with even the slightest hint of negativity towards him. If Mustard was being honest, of course Hyde would harbor some doubt about him being his father. Looking in from the outside (and to be real, it was exactly as it looked), nobody would think that rough and tumble Mustard, the ex Fighting type Gym Leader and old reigning Champion over Galar, could _ever_ father the quaint, sarcastic, and technologically talented Hyde. Their differences had to be set aside, though - Mustard knew this conversation wouldn’t go well if he pointed them out. 

"And... and where did you hear this?" Mustard asked. He excused himself for a bit to go ahead and shut the whole console off (he'd played this game before and though he was getting older by the day, quitting without saving wasn't going to kill him) before he walked back to sit where Hyde sat with folded arms. Mustard swore he saw tears forming in his eyes, but bringing attention to that would only sadden the both of them further. 

"This," Hyde said. He pressed on the screen of his mother's phone and unlocked it, bringing up what seemed to be a document of Hyde's medical information, "Mummy was looking at it, probably because I'm going to the doctor's next Saturday."

"Right, a new one."

"Yeah...she asked me to get it for her, but then she got distracted with one of the students and never came back to get it. So I looked."

"Hyde," Mustard warned, "you know better than to snoop around in other people's things, don't you?" Given how much of a sass the kid could be, Mustard expected Hyde to snap back at him. quoting that _you're not my real dad, so why should I even have to listen_? To his surprise, though, the boy did nothing but zoom in on the unfamiliar name on his paperwork, reading over it and then showing it to his "father." 

"Do you know him?" Hyde asked, the tears in his eyes definitely real now, "I mean, really. Do you?"

There was a crack in his already fragile voice, worried beyond belief that Mustard would nod without hesitation, saying that it was foolish of Hyde to even think of him as a real father. He’s only eight, and no matter how smart eight year olds can be, they’re still susceptible to having their feelings hurt. Mustard took the phone from his hands, squinting to read the name that troubled poor Hyde so. 

Of course Mustard knew this man - he’d never met him, seen him in person, and had only ever heard of him through Honey’s enraged rants about him before they were even wed - but Mustard knew he’d never _want_ to meet this man. How cowardly was it, he thought, to get married to someone so kind only to ditch them when they announced they had a child on the way; no true man would ever think to walk away from something he took part in. He read the name to himself before handing the phone back to Hyde, shaking his head and wishing to have Hyde hold his own up proudly. 

“Yes, I know him,” Mustard admitted, “but I’ve never met him. And let me tell you, kid,” he continued as he tried to get Hyde to look him in the eye again, “I’m never gonna wanna.” 

“Y...you don’t know him?” Hyde mumbled. He wiped away tears with the sleeves of his sweater but remained somewhat vacant, “Why not?”

“Because he’s not a good person, kid. Simple as that, really.”

“Really?” 

“Hyde, you’ve always been real nice at listening. Would you mind putting those skills to work for a bit? It’s no real long story,” Mustard explained. Hyde looked up briefly before diverting his eyes again, “feel like some things need to be talked about is all.” Hyde agreed to the request, and leaned his back onto Mustard softly. Not to be mistaken for some little kid, though, Hyde huffed and folded his arms. A small pout adorned his face as if he was legitimately angry, but Mustard laughed it off. The kid was prone to doing that and always had been ever since he was a baby - it meant nothing rude. 

“First, let me ask. Are you upset about this because we hid it from you?” Hyde shook his head. 

“Not really.” His voice was still a bit squeaky, tired from his crying. 

“It seems like you are to me, though,” Mustard responded as he finally got his chance to ruffle through Hyde’s hair, “we just didn’t think you’d want to know. Not yet, at least. Your mum’s always telling me you’re a genius, though, that you’d piece it together in the end. So, might as well come clean sooner than later, yeah?” 

“I guess,” Hyde sniffled as his voice remained a whisper, “that’s logical.” 

“Whether you wanna admit it or not, Hyde, you’re just a kid right now. There’s no need for us to burden you with something like this,” Mustard said. His usually chipper voice rang serious now, not stern but gentle, “but for the record, kid, no matter the circumstances at play, you’re kind of stuck with me as a dad. Hope that doesn’t bother you much. I’ll continue to love you all the same - no changing that. That sound alright?” 

There was no response to this (Hyde didn’t like when his parents decided to get sappy with him much, now did he?), so Mustard repeated himself a bit louder. 

“That alright, son? Hyde,” he continued before seeing the small rise and fall of Hyde’s chest, eyes closed while the tilt of his head caused an earphone to fall out of his ear onto his shoulder. Mustard looked over his son - _his_ son, no matter what the medical papers say - with a fondness only well-described as paternal. If the boy wasn’t leaning onto him, Mustard would’ve gladly taken off his jacket and laid it over Hyde like a blanket, but if he was sleeping so soundly already? There was no need to change a thing. Taking Honey’s phone from his hand, Mustard placed it down on the table in front of him and closed his eyes as well. He’d always made a nice pillow for the kid. 

“Oh, _finally_! There it is,” a voice called from behind the two, “how’d it get there? Mustard, love, did you have my phone this whole time?” Honey said. Walking around to grab her phone, she looked to see her son so peacefully asleep against Mustard, who opened his eyes to look at his wife with a sort of bittersweetness. 

“Hyde had it for a bit,” he explained, “came in here asking about…” 

“About?” Honey continued. Mustard never faltered in his words; whenever he did, it meant there was something serious on his mind. With the conversation concerning her son, she prepared herself accordingly, set on listening intently on what Mustard had to say. 

“Well,” he continued as a large sigh escaped him and he briefly turned to look at Hyde, “he saw _his_ name on those medical papers or whatever you had pulled up.” 

“ _Oh_ ,” Honey winced, a hand unconsciously covering her mouth, “oh no.” She walked straight to Hyde and caressed his cheek, planting a kiss on his temple before smoothing out the hair Mustard had playfully mussed up earlier, “That’s such a … I didn’t think he’d mention it yet, nor would he even _know_ so early. Is he upset? No, of course he is, but how upset? Is he mad at _you_? _Me_? _Us_?” Worries flew out of her a mile a minute, the fumbling stutter in her voice easily recognizable to her husband. 

“Love, it’s fine,” Mustard interrupted, “we barely scratched the surface of the topic, really, so if anything? We’ll have to have a lengthier talk with him later. Don’t stress about it right now, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

“Alright. He’s snoozing, anyway. I’d be more upset if you woke me up than if you dropped a bombshell like that on me, honestly.” 

“If you say so,” Honey sighed, “it’s just… I never wanted Hyde to know his name. Only yours. _You’re_ his dad, you know. You’ve always been.”

“And trust me,” Mustard responded as he ran fingers through Hyde’s hair and lifted his son’s hand up to kiss it gently, “I’m never gonna want to quit that job. He’s a lovely kid, Honey. You did good.”

“And you’re doing great, love. Just wake him up gently when I call for dinner, alright? Not too fast, though, he’ll—”

“He’ll slap at me. Been there, done that, love. But will do,” Mustard laughed gently as Honey left the room and he turned to look at Hyde again, quietly counting his freckles and recounting how he looked this serene when Mustard first held him eight years ago, “will do.” 

**Author's Note:**

> i love hyde.... i love mustard ... i love family.... here u go... 🥺👉👈 
> 
> i don't remember IoA saying that mustard was hyde's bio dad? so, unless i get more concrete proof? 😤💕 minor feels..... 
> 
> thank you SOOOOOOO much for reading! feel free to leave kudos, comments, and bookmarks~ <3


End file.
